State Association Opposes Use Of Medical Marijuana
by Ed Vogel

June 18, 1998 - Las Vegas Review-Journal - letters@lvrj.com

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Medical Association opposes the use of marijuana for medical reasons until there is scientific evidence it helps patients.

Larry Matheis, executive director of the association, said Wednesday there are prescription drugs available now that alleviate the medical problems that marijuana is said to improve.

Americans for Medical Rights filed petitions Tuesday signed by 70,155 Nevadans who want to vote in November to allow doctors to prescribe marijuana for sick people.

"We obviously can't support the proposal," Matheis said. "There simply are better prescription drugs available."

But the medical rights organization believes marijuana can help people with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and other ailments, and handle nausea, vomiting, chemotherapy and appetite loss.

Matheis, however, questions whether there is enough evidence of marijuana's benefits.

"There may be valid uses for marijuana, but there also are better alternatives already available," he added.

Pharmaceutical companies even have developed a synthetic prescription drug, Marinol, that contains the active ingredient in marijuana.

Nonetheless, Portland, Ore., physician Rick Bayer said some patients are unable to use the available prescription drugs, particularly because they are taken orally.

"If patients have nausea and are vomiting, they can't use Marinol," said Bayer, who is pushing for a marijuana initiative to appear on Oregon's ballot this year. "They must inhale their medication. For them, marijuana may be the best medication. We don't think these patients should be rounded and put in jail."

Bayer said the opposition to medical marijuana largely comes from pharmaceutical companies, such as Roxane Laboratories, the manufacturer of Marinol.

By smoking marijuana, patients also can control the dosage they receive, something they cannot do with the current prescription drugs, according to Bayer.

"Patients don't want to get high," he said. "They want to take as little as possible."

Within the next couple of weeks, Secretary of State Dean Heller will determine if Americans for Medical Rights gathered enough valid signatures to place the proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot. County election workers first must count the signatures and then do sample checks to determine if enough are valid.

The proposition needs at least 46,764 valid signatures to qualify. A minimum number of signatures must be found valid in all of the 13 Nevada counties where they were gathered.

The proposal would require approval of voters this November and again in the year 2000 before doctors could prescribe marijuana.

Matheis said during the election campaign season the Medical Association will serve as an information resource on marijuana. Doctors will be available to express their views.

He added that Nevada doctors passed a resolution that called for scientific studies to determine whether marijuana should be used for medical reasons. Before such tests are completed, he said the doctors would oppose the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Bayer, on the other hand, said several tests have shown that marijuana is a more effective drug for nausea and chemotherapy for some patients.

"You should look at it from the patient standpoint," he said. "He can't tolerate the first three drugs you gave him. It would make sense to have further choices available."

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